c3 BEN ISRAEL; \ OR, % mSit. A JEV^TISH PLAY, In Five Acts, BY EDWARD W. TULLIDGE, AUTHOR OF The Plaij of ''Oliver CroniweU,^' ''Lives of Famous Historical Character Sj'^ etc., etc. JOHN C. GRAHAM, PRINTER, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 1875. \ ?T^^^ ^QZ^^J^^u BEN ISRAEL; OR, FROIVI UNDER THE CURSE. IN FIVE ACTS, BY EDWARD W. TULLIDGE, AUTHOR OF 'Th' PUuj of "Oliver CromweUy^' "Lives of Famous Historical Character Sj'''' etc., etc. JOHN C. GEABAM, PRINTER, SALT LAK E C ITY, UTAH. 1875. TS^ iiiitered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1875, br EDWARD -W, TULLIDGE, ia the Office of the Librarian of Cougi-ess, at Washington, TMP96-006736 REFACE AND JJEDICATION, r=C?^-^ TO THE JEWS OF AMERICA: OUK theme and race, my Hebrew brethren, constitute the grandest of the world, and it is time that we Gentiles do you justice, for the nations owe to your people the crown of civilizations. -To Egypt and Greece the world is certainly indebted, but to the Hebrew people, and the divine splendor of their subject, it owes at once the substantial basis of our present civilization and the very soul that breathes in it. Indeed, the sacred liter- ature and exalted examples jf your forefathers have very much formed the characters of modern nations. I am inclined to believe that they are indebted more to the Hebrews for their present types, than to their race origins, which give to them, in our own time, little more than their variations from each other, and the character ardor or coldness of physical temperament. The Temples of their civilization are yours. The temples of their own race-patriarchs were demol- ished before their historic periods commenced. Yours alone stand imperishable through the ages, grander monuments to-day evnn than when your ancestors were its master builders and High Priests. The impress of the Hebrew upon modern nations (I speak of course of Europe and America,) has been best illustrated in the history of England, not only in its religion, its law and its literature, but also in its revolutions. I have only to instance the revolution of the Commonwealth, when the soul and examples of your sires inspired not only the British Parliament, but also created an army such as the world never before saw, nor has seen since, who fought in the name of the God of Israel and held a world in awe. Indeed, so strongly did those mighty men type themselves with your types, that Sir Harry Vane, the leader of the British Parliament, was styled the Seer of the Commonwealth, and Cromwell the iv. PREFACE. Captain of the Lord's Host, while the genius of the divine John Milton rose almost to the sublime harmony of David, your king. Nor was that grand national earnestness, so characteristic of your race, lost by England in that famous constitutional revolution that followed under the Protestant hero, William, Prince of Orange, during whose reign your people were firmly established in that land. And if we go to the genius of music for examples, (and music, next to pro- phecy, is the Hebrew's poetic gift,) then have we not only our Mendelssohns and Meyerbeers from yourselves, but Handel is also made immortal by your themes. For, let it be observed, that though the Messiah is his subject, it is, after all, the Jew's Messiah that he treats. Isaiah, not St. Luke or St. Peter, originates most of Handel's themes. Nor is this said to dishonor the great Christian Teacher, fur lie most exalted and honored his Jewish origin, both in his claims as the king of the Jews and his love for Israel. Yet have we Gentile Christians, who have taken so much from the Hebrews without gratitude, made the very national fidelity of your people their curse, and in the ages past treated them as the very dogs, instead of the princes of the human race. And, as an author, I am ashamed to say that our class has been but little better than the bigot and the priest. Even our gloi.ous Shakespeare, dealing with the Jew, has created for us a Shylock. Dramatically it was worthy his genius, but justly unworthy his matchless mind. Shylock has certainly Jewish idiosyn- crasies, but he has little in him of Hebraic subject. Think of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Isaiah, not touching so high in the Christians' mind as their own divine Teacher — then think of Shylock. Or, if you choose our own times, think of Moses Mendelssohn, Nathan Eothschild, and Benjamin D'Israeli. True, Shakespeare wrote in a day when he dared not create a more acceptable Jew than Shylock. As for the Fagin of Charles Dickens, though it is the draiaaatic "hit" of the book of Oliver Twist, the author seems to me to have committed a cardinal sin against a race. To supplement a Fagin to a Sh3^1ock in this generous, universalian age, was unwoithy so catholic an author. Shylock has an earnestness and a passion which, on occasions, reaches so near grandeur that the Jew was still a great tj'pe in tl^e public mind, but Fagin is the wickedness and meanness of a race "boiled down" into an everyday character, so well done, it must be confessed, that the ignorant take him as the model type of the modern Jew. PREFACE. V. Tlio aim? of mj- own \)\ay Ben Israel shall liiu)M-lf i-eprosent, supported l^v liis .^-randdaaghter, Rachel. Permit me, without more words, to dedicate to you, liebiews of America, a pla3' to commemorate tlie return, after four hundred years' banishment, of your people to England, in the reign of Charles II. Eespectfilly, EDWARD AV. TULLIDGE. Salt Lake Citv, April 24tii, 1875. CAST OF CHARACTERS: DAVID BEN ISKAEL, a Jewish Prince, descended from the "Princes of the Captivity." JUDAH, his nephew, agent of the Prince of Orange. LEVI, a trusted^servant of Ben Israel. SIR WALTEPv TEMPLAR, lover of Rachel. CHARLES II. LORD HAWKLE Y, a malignant plotter against the Jews. GABRIEL, servant-companion of Sir Walter, who retains his rustic simplicities. RACHEL, granddaughter of Ben Israel. ANNETTI, her foster-sister. MEG, godmother of Lord Hawkley, and a hater of the Jews. REBECCA, wife of Levi. AUXILIARIES. Hebrew People, Templar Men, Bishops, Rabbis, Chief Justice, Governor of Prison, Chaplain, etc. Time '.—Reign of Charles 11. Place -.-—Londotu BEN ISRAEL; OK, FROM UNDER THE CURSE ACT I. Scene I. Magnificent mansion and gardens of Rachel the singer^ in the suburbs of London, Bowers around, from one of which come forth court gallants, goblets in hand, led by Charles II. Charles. Gad's death! 'Tis time we pledge The houri of this paradise. So to the Star of Judah! GalLxYnts. {all excepting Hawkley) The Star of Judah! Hawkley. The Devil take the Jews ! Judah. [entering as mentor of the King and agent from Holland) Amen, my lord. The Devil will take care of them. Chas. Ah, sir mentor, just from Holland? Good. 'Tis not before we needed thee. JuD. From Holland, sire, envoy from the States General and servant of your majesty's rare nephew, William, Prince of Orange. Chas. Ah! How is the young Dutch hero? Gad's death! There's that about the rogue we like, though he hath urged the States to war with England. JuD. That is because your Majesty, urged by your brother James, takes up the cause of France against your Protestant allies, the Dutch. Chas. The boy is mad and stands in his own light. AVhy sides he not with Louis and with me. Who'll re-instate his house? We need the help Of France, but most the gold of Louis, {is joined by Lord Haicldcy) What say you to that, my lord of Hawkley ? 8 BEN ISRAEL. [Act 1, Hawk. To wliat, j^our majesty ? Chas. Do not our ministers need Louis' gold ? Hawk. Not more than does their king. JuD. Then borrow of the Jews, your majesty, And do not England's honor sell to France, Nor England pawn unto the Papal power. Hawk. Keep guard upon thy tongue. 'Twas thou who didst Persuade his Majesty to hive the Jews In England after we were quit of them Four hundred years. JuD. The bees make honey for the land; I own I did advise his majesty to hive them here. Hawk. Now may the devil take the Jews, say I. JuD. You said it but a while ago, my lord. Perhaps your lordship) hath forgot The proverb, that the fiend cares for his own. Chas. A truce to this banter. We are here to hail the queen of song at her own court. Join with your prince, gallants. Hail to the Star of Judah — Kachel, the enchantress! {Exit into mansion.) Courtiers acclaim tvith the king and follow him into the mansion of the Jewess, excepting Hawkley, who directs his curse at the house. Hawk. Curse thee, thou subtle agent of this Orange Prince, And curse the Jews, whom Rome hath more to fear Than from the heretics about the throne. And curse thee, too, thou royal fool! Would that Thy brother James now- reigned in England. Enter, cautiously looking around^ Meo, a Papist and godmother of Lord Hawkley. Meg. Hist, my son. 'Tis thy old god-dame. Hawk. Ha! Mother Meg! Returned? What say the Holy Fathers? Meg, Of that anon. I choked with rage to hear the king drink to this Jewish witch, and then to hear the courtiers shout as if they were about to crown a queen. Hawk. You heard the king, then, Meg? Meg. Ay! That did I. A legion fiends possess The fool, I say, for harboring the Jews. Hawk. Ben Israel has my castle and estates Under his bonds well nigh to their full worth. Meg. Thou shouldst have borrowed of the devil first. Hawk. Or taken subsidies from France. Act 1.] BEN ISEAEL. 9 Meg. Aha! But I will help thee out. I've sent The rumor round that Charles is 'witched to love The Jewess. Hawk. Then may the rumor poison every breeze. Meg. And that she hath dark dealings with the Evil One. Hawk. Thou art as deep as he in plotting, Meg. Meg. Aha! Old Meg will work their ruin yet. The holy fathers of the Jesuits will be with us. Hawk. What said their chief ? Meg. Caution, my son, there may be prying ears about. Hawk. Yes, Yes. We must be guarded in our tongues. Meg. Give thy old mother wine. I'm parched with rage, And faint with my long journeying. Hawk. {Fetching goblet from bower) Here, mother Meg, is the untasted wine I would not to the Jewess drink. Meg. But I will drink to her. May old Meg's hand Pile fagots high around the Jewess for a witch. {Drinks and throws goblet away.) - i Now come away with me. And hearken what the holy fathers said. {Exeunt r 2 e.) Enter David Ben Israel l. 1 e., watching them off, in his char- acter of peddler of the court. Da\td. {Returning to c.) Then is there danger brewing for our race E'en in this goodly land, where I had thought Our people, worn with ages of their wanderings Would find rest for their feet. Cromwell the Great Had given us both welcome and enfranchisement, But he did live before his time. The needs Of Charles for moneys serve us better now Than did a great man's tolerance and aims For justice to our persecuted people. King Charles' passion for this Hebrew maid Hath served us too. But from his princely lust Ben Israel's hand must save the child. And yet there's danger brewing 'gainst our tribe ! If once the Jesuits obtain the sway In England, then I fear me much the Jew Will have to leave these shores again And quit the pastures of this thrifty land. The king comes forth. I'll watch and keep mine ears As open doors. {Exit l. 1 e.) 10 BEN ISKAEL. [Act 1. Enter Charles loith Eachel /ro?>i Mansion, to walk in gardens, fol- lowed by train of ladies and gentUinen who disperse over the grounds. King comes to c. ivith Rachel. Chas. Nay, by our royal word, the sun shone not To-day till thy bright face broke through the clouds. Rachel: Fie, fie, your majesty! I have no taste For dulcet nothings, even from a king. Chas. Maid, by my kingly honor, I would deck Thy fair brow with a duchess' coronet, To hear thee say thou hadst no taste to list To them from other lips than mine. Each. O, Sire, I am but a simple maid, — An orphan child of a despised tribe, Who does not e'en her parents know, — And not a lady of your brilliant court. Chas. Smile but upon my suit, and there shall reign None at my court to match my Hebrew love. Each. Eachel, the singer — never more shall I be there. Chas. Yes, Eachel with an angel's voice. Eachel, Who shall be queen of a king's heart, and^if She wish it so, never shall ear but his List to the notes of her enchanting voice. Each. Forbear! or I at once retire. Chas. Nay, pardon, lady-love. At least you'll grant Permission to Charles Stuart, gentleman, To walk with you this morn. Each. In his jDlain character of gentleman. Chas. It is a bargain, sweetheart. Each. Then will I in to my own doors, if thus The gentleman his promise breaks in maldng it. Chas. I'll not offend again to-day. (Exeunt l. u. e.) Enter Sir Walter Templar, r. u. e., roith Judah. Sir W. I would I had not brought her to the court Of Charles. This homage to her genius, which In Italy I dreamt of with such pride. Now startles me. The wanton eye of Charles Is kindled to a blaze when she appears. JuD. Does the king know you yet ? Sir W. Yes, that it was Sir Walter Templar who did educate The Jewess and engage her for his court. JuD. But knows not that you are the man ? Act 1.1 BEN ISRxVEL. . H Sir W. No, lie but thinks me one whom he permits At court to ^ive her musical support. JuD. I think, Sir Walter, they did say at Eome You had a voice the world could not surpass. Sir W. They did. JuD. I see. And you assisted hereto write This Jewish opera ? Sir W. I did. It is my family legend, sir. That Lionel, the founder of my house, Grand Master of the Templar knights, in Palestine Did love and wed a maid of Judah's royal blood. JuD. Thou art her offspring ? Sir W. I am. JuD. 'Tis strange! Sir W. What is strange? JuD. Nothing. Nay, everything. It is all mystery, This complex drama of our mortal life, Which we but poorly read at best. Sir W. What mean you ? JuD. I know the untold history of the maid. Sir W. What, my ancestress ? JuD. No, thy love. Yet had she been that same princess Who wedded Lionel, the Christian knight, She scarce had been more than she is. Sir W. You speak in riddles. JuD. I much do err if she be not the lost Grandchild of David Ben Israel. Sir W. What, the Jewish prince, of whom 'tis said He is the last of all his line? JuD. The same. Sir W. Great heaven ! Then do the guardian angels of the past Bring down their links to weld anew in us. JuD. Ah, there you strike a mystery I have not yet quite read. But we must look well to the king. Sir W. I will not cross the king unless the king Would wrong my mate. And then let king beware! (Exeunt r. 2 e.) Enter Gabriel, l. 1 e. Gab. Yes, I'll plague the Jew. T will be a right proper Chris- tian pastime. My patron Gabriel will scratch a mark of good behavior in his book if I plague the Jew. Why, what are the Jews 12 BEN ISEAEL. [Act. 1. sent into the world for except for Cliristian pastime ? Now, if I plague the Jew, the fiend won't plague me with cramps and night- mares; nor will witches ride me through the air on broomsticks. Yes, I'll plague the Jew and be saved for it. Return Old Meg, b. 2 e. Meg. (Seizing Jiijii by the arm) Then come with me and I'll help thee plague the Jew. Gab. O Lord! O Saints! O Mrs. Belzebub, have mercy and I'll X^lague the Jew. Meg. Come with me and I'll teach thee how to plague the Jew. G-AB Grace, Mrs. Fiend! Grace, good Fiend! Let me off, beautiful Fiend, and I'll plague the Jew. Meg. Come with me, fool. Gab. Help ! help ! The foul fiend is going to run away with me. Help! help! {He is dragged off by Meg, r. 1 e.) Annetti runs in, l. 1 e. Annetti. Gabriel! Gabriel! Where has the simpleton gone? Something has frightened him out of the little wits he has. But where has he hid himself ? Now he would thrash half a dozen lusty rogues, but name a ghost, a goblin or a witch to him and all his wits will forsake him. and his courage melt into his heels. Gabriel rushes in, blind with affright. Gab. Help ! help ! The foul Fiend is flying away with me. Help ! help! {Is caught by Annetti as he is running off\ when he falls upon his knee-'i) Mercy, mercy, good Mrs. Fiend! Mercy, mercy, Mrs. Belzebub, and I'll plague the Jew; I'll drown the Jew; I'll do anything to the Jew! Ann. Get up, you simpleton. Do I look like Mrs. Fiend or Mrs. Belzebub ? Take that box on the ear, you fool. Do you know that ? Gab. Eh ? Is that you, Annetti ? I used to know that signal before the Fiend ran awa}^ with me. You're sure you're not the Fiend turned into my Annetti. Ann. Come into the house. I have some bottled spirits in my room that will not scare you. {Exit into the house of the Jewess.) Return King with Rachel, l. u. e. Chas. (c.) In vain, Rachel, I cannot hold my peace. This passion will consume me if it find not vent. Rack, Oh ]:)ersecute me not, I do entreat. This suit dishonors you, — outrages me. Act L] ben ISEAEL. 13 Chas. Listen a moment, Eachel, to my love. In Holland first we met. I heard you sing, And loved you when a fugitive. Had I Not been an exiled prince, I had not left The story of that love to tell to-day. Each. Sire, forbear. What can the Jewess be To England's king? Chas. Queen of his heart! For your dear sake, the Jews I have invited to these shores against The wish of zealots of each rival church, And granted them protection of the crown. To tell you tliis I sent to Italy And bade my agents bring you here to sing At court. Smile, Rachel, on my love, And I swear to you that the Jews Shall have in England their enfranchisement. Rach. Profane not thus the sacred name of love ! Thou knowest not what love doth signify, And knowest not the maid thou wooest thus Witli wicked tongue. Chas. By heaven, I speak the truth. I loved thee then, Yet dreamed not of this wondrous change, (kneels) Rachel, Thou wast born to be the consort of a king. Each. King of England, — orphaned at her birth. Alone, — without one of her parent's kin To own or guard her, the poor Jewess is So much above thy crowned head that she Commands thee, rise! Nor longer thus With wanton homage humble her. Chas. Thy words have stung me to my feet and made The king remember who he is and who The singer Rachel is. Ah ! she is but The outcast Jewess still, — is in our realm, A subject of the king, in the king's power. Rach. Then, king, will I invoke the aid of one Who will protect me from thy lawless hands! Chas. Sir Walter Templar hath proclaimed himself. Each. Ah! Chas. You saw him speak to me but now? Each. Yes, yes. (aside.) Then have I cause to fear this king. Chas. Sir AValter hath defied me, — threatened me. Each. Oh! Would I were hence. Chas, You see, Eachel, how much I heed him. 14 BEN ISEAEL. [Act. 1. Each. Eemember, king, lie is the son of him Who moved all England 'gainst thy father's tyrannies. As he would move it 'gainst thyself did harm But come to me. Chas. Now mark me, Eachel: if it needs must be I will remove Sir Walter from my path By banishment and find the cause for it. Yet do I think the path is clear. He has return'd unto his native land To wed his cousin. So, my queenly maid, Better the consort of a married king Than mistress of a wedded baronet. Each. God of my Fathers, who shall shield The orphan Jewess now? Enter David, jDlth solemn dignity. Dav. He to whom thou hast appeal' d, my child, The God of thy Fathers shall shield and succor thee! {EarJiel rushes to the old man for protection. He throws his arm around her and awes back the king.) Chas. Old man, hast thou been spying on my track? Each. Save me! (Jh, save me from the king! Chas. What is this maid to thee, that 'bout thy neck She clings? And who art thou, that in thy rags Thus dar'st to wave me back as if thou wert Thyself a king and she thy ward ? Dav. What is this maid to me ? An orphan of my race, Therefore the old man's daughter, though he be The least of all his tribe. And who am I Whose rags can awe a king ? A poor old man; But virtue clothed in rags hath native majesty That vice hath not tho' deck'd in purple robes, Its head encircled with a kingly crown! Chas. Begone, old man. Dav. Nay, not till I have answer'd thee. Thou saidst This maid is but the outcast Jewess still. So have her people been outcast These sixteen centuries. And yet hath He, To whom this child in her defenceless loneliness Appeal'd, protected and preserved them to this hour — Greater to-day than when their princes reign'd As kings in Palestine. Thou toldst this maid , That for the hope of smiles upon thy wicked suit. Thou hadst permitted us, after long banishment. To settle in this land. If this be so The humblest of his tribe will answer thee : Act 1.] BEN ISKAEL. 15 Then, King of England, take thy favors back, — Withhold from us enfranchisement until The day of doom. Eather than that our sons Should cease to trust in Israel's God, — Our daughters' chastity be given up To Gentile lust, as X3urchase of the freeman's rights. The Jews shall quit these shores again. Their substance to the spoiler's greed devote, And pitch their tents in some far distant land. Where still fidelity may be our sons' Fair heritage, and purity our daughters' dower. Enter Hawkley and courtiers gathered by the impassioned voice of David, Sir Walter Templar an^Z Judah icitli them. Hawk- ley taking in the situation at a glance, raises a cry against the Jews. Hawk. Quick ! The king's in danger ! The .king is set ujion By Jews. I saw a band of them but now Prowling about. They fled as I came up. Are you hurt, Sire ? Dav. Fear nothing for your king, He has but been rebuked by this loae maid And been confronted by a weak old man. Sir W. Come, Rachel, we will London leave at once; You shall not breathe the pestilential air Of Charles' court. Chas. Beware, Sir Walter, how you cross my path! Sir W. Beware, sir King, and do not cross my love ! Sir Walter is leaving icith Rachel ichen David intercepts them. Dav. Stay, daughter of my people ! I know of one whose claim to guard thee stands The first: I mean thy grandsire. Rach. My grandfather ! Oh, where is he? Hawk. Let us begone, your Majesty. We have no interest with this vagabond. Let Rachel entertain her tribe, but we Consort not with the Jewish herd. Dav. Christian scofier! Our race were princes when thy ancestors Were robbers and barbarians! 16 BEN ISKAEL. [Act 1. Hawk. Out of my way, dog of a Jew! {He whirls him and David falls.) So do I trample on tliy Jewish gabardine, Thou vagabond of an accursed tribe! (Walter and Judah at- tempt to interpose, but Rachel bounds to David.) Each. Nay! Let a Hebrew woman, sirs, chastise This lordly ruffian. Hawk. Ruffian? Rack. Ay, ruffian! The conduct of thy king I fain had hid. But thou hast outraged all My Jewish blood, my people call'd a herd, This old man trampled 'neath thy haughty feet. Proud lord, the history of my antique race Stands out the grandest theme Of all the ages past and shall be theme Of all the ages yet to come. "Accursed?" Yet to the Christian gave they oracles! How hath he paid his debt of gratitude ? Why, meanly taken advantage of their fall, Scourged them from land to land, despoiled them of their gold And trampled on them as thou did'st this good old man. But Judah shall come from under the curse As gold from the refiner's fire. He shall Ttedeem himself, asking not Gentile grace. We've kissed the rod, but henceforth if ye smite, Ye shall pay interest back for every blow. And crawd at Judah's feet to beg his helping hand. These grounds are mine, this instant leave Or I will have thee driven hence as thou Hadst fain this son of Israel. Go, unworthy king! Ruffian courtier, go! Bear with ye both a Hebrew woman's scorn! {Picture.) END OF ACT I. Act 2.] BEN ISRAEL. 17 ACT 11. Scene I. — The Kinrfs Closet. Charles Discovered. Chas. 'S death! Her exalted virtue provokes me to the con- quest. There is a sublime earnestness about the Jewish character that forces one's admiration. These Jews are not understood. By my soul, were Rachel my queen instead of Cathaiine, I think I should become a virtuous dog myself. (I>/iocJ{ at door) Come in. {enter Judah) So, 'tis you Judah ? Have you discovered who the Jewess is, and who this old peddler ? JuD. Not quite. Chas. Your mysterious hint that she [is other than she seems has piqued my curiosity. JuD. To-night your majesty shall know all. In the meantime suppose we take up your afiairs with Louis of France. You need money, Sire. Chas. Ah! there thou hit'st me on my sorest place. I must have money to be independent of my Parliament, and so, to choose the least of the bondages, I have taken Louis as my banker. JuD. It was not well done. Sire, for, if you mind not, the choice may cost a kingdom. But I have brought you one who shall re- lieve you from your bondage on better terms. Judah goes to door and admits David. Chas. How now ! The peddler of the court ? Old man, begone! or I will have thee scourged Through London streets midst hootings of the mob. Dav. Your majesty, men often from their door With senseless foot their providences spurn : Thy dearest fate shall come patch'd and well-worn. If thou but know'st thy fate 'tis well : she shall 'Bide with thee. Bid her but begone, and she — The angel of thy fortune — shall return no more. Shall she hence. Sire, or stay? Thy fortune comes To-day beneath my well-worn gabardine. Chas. How^ canst thou help, old man, a kingdom's needs ? Wert thou Ben Israel whose matchless wealth Is as the treasures of the Ind, thou might'st. Thou'rt but a wandering knave. Dav. Yet hath my master David sent me to the king To ofier loans great as thy kingdoms needs Spurn, Sire, the dog, and thou hast spurn'd the one Who sent him. Wilt thou take my master's bond ? 18 BEN ISEAEL. [Act. 2. Chas. In London none hath seen this Jewish prince. Why keejDS he up this mystery ? Dav. It fits his mood. Wilt take his bond, I say ? Chas. Art sure Ben Israel will honor it? JuD. That will I answer for. Chas. What are his terms, old man? Day. Protection to the Herew maid against the king. Chas. By Heaven she's worthy to be queen. Dav. Ay, queen; but not, sire, worthy to be that Thy love would make of her. Chas. Well, well, old man, what further terms? Dav. That our long suffering people be allow'd To home in England and in England trade, Protected by the Crown, And granted but the welcome countenance , You'd give unto the meanest Christian stranger. If yet in time to come, when England shall have proof Of Judah's loyalty, our people be to her What the life-vessels are to man, Then let the future give unto the Jew Enfranchisement. Till then we ask But for the alien's common rights. Chas. What, the Jew to England as her life*s blood? Dav. This shall the Jew become ! Say, Sire, how stands it now with thee? Thy realm Is pawn'd to Louis — thyself a vassal king; Thy fleets are crippled on the sea; the Dutch « Again hold empire there. Yea worse. Thy people murmur and with their reproach Are deep-mouth'd threats heard rumbling through the land As distant thunders on the coming storm. Yet still thou goest to the master king Who holds the purse, and takes for England^ s shame These subsidies, and in return give aid To France 'gainst England's nearest kin. What Louis loans for England's shame shall be By David loan'd for her good honor. Take My master's bond and henceforth she shall lend And shall not borrow. Here the Jew shall find His destiny and through him England hers, And greatness reach beyond all precedent. The time is coming when my antique race Shall throw the wanderer's rags away And Judah rise, as Phoenix, from its dust, Act 2.] BEN ISRAEL. 19 Here — here in England will he find his fate. — Your pardon, sire, I did but dream. Wilt take my master's bond ? Chas. (airefJ) Old man, I could have sworn I saw beneath That ragged gabardine an oraclo Of that grand race which gave, as Rachel said, The Christian that of which he loudest boasts. Dav. Wilt take my master's bond ? Chas. I will! Dav. Then meet my master David at his house To-night, and thou shalt have the monies For the interest of the turning it. Chas. Why 't is a generous bond ! There is no pound Of flesh exacted in't. Dav. { jmssionafely) But if thou dost betray it thou wilt pay Thy pound of forfeit. King of England! Deal justly with us and thou wilt have cause To bless the Jew and bless his bond. (Change.) Scene 2. — A Corridor in the house of Ben Israel. jE^/iYer 'Gabriel and Annetti, l. 1 e. Ann. Gabriel, Thou art a fool. Thou sawest a witch. Gab. Yerily I did, and thus it was: As I was argufying how to plague the Jew to 'scape the Fiend, out of revenge as I should say for forgetting her sex the she Fiend darted down upon me on a streak of lightning, which she turn'd into a dragon's tail, switch'd it around my neck and awa}' she flew with me. Ann. Well, thou simpleton, and what then? Gab. Why, just then she heard your voice, and got scared, and she dropp'd me on a rose bed, or I should have broken every bone in my body. Ann. Dost mean to say, I am so ugly as to scare a witch? Gab. Nay, nay that follows not. Now will I serve the Jew spite of the Fiend and doubly to spite that she-fiend, providing Annetti you will take the name of Mistress Gabriel Bramble. Then, being sanctified b}^ my wife's petticoats, no she-fiends will have a virtuous need of me. Ann. a bargain, — that is, if thou'lt keep thy promise to serve my foster-sister Rachel and her grandfather until she marries Sir Walter Templar. Gab. But I say, Annetti, who is this grandfather? 20 BEN ISEAEL. [Act 2. Ann. That she knows not herself as yet, but he is to be here to- night at the house of this Jewish prince, and we are bid hither also to meet our new master. The king and Lord Hawkley are to be present, for Ben Israel comes with Rachel's grandfather to loan money to the king. Come haste we in. Gab. But keep me within the charm of thy petticoats, Annetti. Ann. Blockhead, see to that thyself. (Exeunt e. 1 e.) Scene 3. — A grand apartment in the house of David Ben Israel, haviiig the appearance of a Jewish palace gorgeouslo lighted. {Enter Judah and Levi, l. c.) Levi. So, Judah, thou hast trayel'd o'er the earth. JuD. My feet have touch'd the soil of every land. Levi. I've heard my master say thou ever wert Of strangest mind. JuD. Returning to my father's house at Frankfort, After a score of years of wandering, I learned my uncle David had not found Young Benjamin, his son. Train'd as the hound I follow' d on the tracks which David's son And my lost sister made when flying from The cruelty of Spain, and reaeh'd these shores Just at the time that Rachel's Jewish play, "The Princess of the Captivity,'' Was heralded abroad. Levi. Ay, ay! good Judah, when the watchers told My master David oft, it struck his mind As if the Angel of the Covenant had writ A volume in the Heavens of which he knew The sign and held the key. JiiD. And I. And knew the legend of our house. Thus runs the prophecy: "If any of our mystic line be lost, An angel from within or from without The lost shall find. Their magic blood unto its own shall speak: Though in the darkest night their mystic star shall shine." Levi. Ay, ay, tis wonderful! And so you read The secret of the child which she did set to song As did your uncle David? JuD. I did! And knew that she was one of us; And that, though all unconscious to herself, To us she told her inborn mystery. Act 2.] BEN ISRAEL. 21 Levi. Judah; — good Judah ! JuD. Speak on. Levi. Nay, nay; I will wittiliold my tongue; For tliou shalt soon tliy uncle David see. JuD. I've seen my uncle David. Levi. And spoken to him? JuD. As oft as I have spoke to thee. Levi. Oh, oh! I see, I see! JuD. My uncle David should not hide from me. Levi. Thy uncle David hath oft said His nephew was a mystery few could read Yet was as wise as Solomon. JuD. Then tell him I advise him now to give My sister's child unto the son and heir Of old Lord Leon Templar. Levi. Nay, nay; his blood must not be mix'd; his name Not lost unto his tribe. Thou didst thyself Essay to part them yesterday. JuD. But not to-day. His family gives consent That he shall wed my sister Eachel's child. Levi. Now by the staff of Jacob, this will cut Thy uncle David to the quick. Judah, "We must consult the rulers of our tribe. See they come. {Enter Lords and Ladles of the court. Next Bishops of the Chureh of England and Babbis, loho range tneniseloes on either side, folloired by Sir Walter Templar, Rachel and Judah. Last enter King Charles with Lord Hawklev, icho eome to Centre. Haw^k. What means this gathering, your majesty Chas. Tis but the princely David's whim. He >«chemes To have the bishops of the English Church Partakers in the covenant of good Between us and the Jews. Hawk. But where is this David Ben Israel. Enter David, who goes and converses with the Jews. Chas. Didst see that old Jew enter last ? Hawk. By heaven, 'tis the peddler of the court. Chas. And no David ! There is a mystery here. 22 BEN ISEAEL. [Act 2. Hawk. Which I will prick, {goes doion c. and hmigMUij breaks into the circle of church dignitaries and Rabbis, addressing the former) Surely, most reverend sirs, We are not here to be received by such As these, buyers of old silver — vagabonds, Who peddle through our streets ? {goes uj:) to Pedler, indicating him icith insolent disgust) That rusty, greasy, stinking gabardine Most plainly tells the swine with which we mix To-night. Where is Ben Israel ? He claims To be descendant of the royal blood Of Judah. If this prince be here Let him appear at once, or we retire. David comes to c. Dav. Most princely guests, David Ben Israel Gives cordial welcome to ye all. Chas. Thou Ben Israel? Dav. Thus am I known among my tribe — this " herd " Of Jacob. Hawk. Oh fool, that I have been ! Dav. Nay, 't was this stinking gabardine that did > Offend thy perfumed nose. It smelt of swine. Good Levi, take it, if it has a smell Of swine, then bury it till it be sweet As spices of Arabia. T is but (throws off gabardine and gives it to Levi, discovering a ])rincely Jewish costume^ a massive gold chain about his neck.') Our outside skin and much offendeth. Hawk. Ah ! This is your revenge, old man, on me. I will be even with you yet, dog of a Jew. {Attempts to leave, hut is interrupted by David, v:ho majestically waves him back.) Dav. Stay, my Lord of Hawkley ! I hold some bonds of thine which if pressed home For settlement would send thee through the world A beggar lord. They fell due yesterraorn. Leave my poor dwelling thus, to-morrow I The settlement will press. The other day Thou spurn'dst Ben Israel and trampled him Beneath thy haughty feet and call'd him dog. T was then this maiden for her people stood As Judith might, who smote the chief Of proud Assyria's host. Act 2.] BEN ISRAEL. 2:^ Ben Israel thanks this lord that his outrage Did show him such a picture of his race, And in his gratitude renews the bonds. But if hereafter thou but touchest e'en the hem Of any of my people's robes, ay, though it be The least of all my tribe I will exact The recomj^ense to the last farthing's due. Hawk, {aside) Damnation! Bach, {to Walter) Oh what a change is wrought in him ! Now looks he, whom we knew but yesterday As the old pedler of the Court, as I Have pictured those of that grand line who reign'd As kings in Israel. Sir W. Even Lord Hawkley's pride is cowed beneath His native majesty, though he fain would Confront him with a show of scorn. Dav. {addressing company) I have invited you to-night to lioar The story of Ben Israel's chequered life. Chas. Thy history. Dav. And to give judgment on a cause that sits As would a mountain on the old man's heart. Bach, {to Walter) I shudder with forboding of I know not what Yet feel there is a fate to-night that points to us. Dav. E'ea like his more illustrious sires, David Hath dreamt the time must come when Judah's sons Would hear the " Comfort ye, my People " swell Like hallelujahs from the nations' tongues. Emboldened b}^ the spirit of this new-born age. He sent young Benjamin, his only son. To Spain, where for seven centuries we dwelt. Alas! he but returned to bear the curse anew. The dreaded inquisition, in its throes of death, Seized him — the Jew — with savage joy to find One victim left on whom it could expend Its priestly rage. Oh, Benjamin, my son, my son! Bach. Your stoiy lacerates my heart. The thought Of all our people's woes my Jewish blood Stirs to its depths, and, woman though I am, I would I had the power to avenge. Dav. {recovering from his emotion) So felt Ben Israel, maiden, once, when like The cedar of famed Lebanon, He tower'd among his people in his strength ; But, child, long suffering hath chastened him. 24 BEN ISKAEL. Act 2.] Each. Good, princely heart, Oh, how I honor thee! Day. Sire, my children, terror-stricken, fled from Spain, And Kachel in her insane love and fear. Hid Benjamin e'en from his father's search. Chas. But found you not your children, princely Jew ? Day. Nay, sire, they sleep together side by side. Yet hath the God of Jacob blessed my search. Maiden, thou wear'st about thy neck a charm Placed by thy dying mother at thy birth. Rach. I have! 'T is here! Day. It is the same ! Lost child, come to thy grandsire's arms! Rach. Grandfather! O, my grandfather! Chas. David Ben Israel's grandchild! Jews. The Princess of our captivity! Day. Sire, no longer Rachel the singer, But Rachel, heiress of Ben Israel. Sir W. Good Heaven! Then was her opera inspired! Rach. O grandfather, your looks grow solemn and the lines Of pain furrow your brow. Oh what can come To cloud our world of Joy ? Sir W. Most reverend sir, if what the king did say Of my betrothal with my cousin be the cause Which troubles you, 'tis all removed: My family give consent that I shall wed Her whom I loved ere any of her kin Knew of her birth. Day. Judah hath told me all. 'Tis this which makes The mountain of my grief. Sir W. Rachel, what does this mean? Each. Grandfather what does this forbode ? Day. (to Walter) A greater barrier hath come between Thee and this maid. Rach. Oh! no, no! Say not so. 'T is not possible there now Can rise a barrier between our loves. Day. I've said it, child. At first 't was but a covenant Which they who made it could revoke e'en with a breath Rach. Oh! sir, if two great families of this proud Old land, forgetting her despised descent, Open their arms to take the Jewess home To their warm hearts, what can arise to part us now ? Act 2.] BEN ISRAEL. 25 Day. a hundred generations of thy dead! If this young noble's family have forgot The branded brow we've worn down through the past, When all lands were as Hades to our race; If the}^ forget our banned origin, Thy grandfather does not; nor does he, child, Forget thy ancestors were princes. And did reign as kings in Israel, Ere his proud family had a name on earth. Those hundred generations, child, through me, Last of our sacred royal line, declare The Christian and the Jewess must not mate ! Each. O Walter, now I comprehend it all. These generations of my dead rise up Before me even here as from the dead. Their deep solemnity appalls my sense. Day. Daughter of Ben Israel, I do conjure thee bow to their dread will! Each. The curse! The curse! 'T has fallen on my head; And 't was thy lips that did pronounce this doom. Day. It is their will, not mine. It must be done! Each. Oh, grandfather, when you did say that we Must be divorced, it was the curse to me. SiE W. And to me. Dav. Divorced? Each. Yes, yes. I said divorced, for love hath made Us mates. Once did I save his life and nursed Him through a fever when his soul was wing'd To take departure on his dying breath Which scarce did dim the glass. I wooed his soul As by a magic touch and drew it back to earth. Then, woman-like, I loved the life I saved. And garnered that dear life in mine ! Grandfather, he is mine. Take him not from me; Make not all my future one dark blank — Blank now, — blank in the great hereafter! (fh rowing herself at David's feet) Oh, bless our union! O, my grandsire, bless! Give us thy blessing, see, I kneel for it. Dav. (bowed with grief ) Eachel! Eachel! Each. Eevoke this doom of separation, 'Tis more than I can bear! 'Tis you that speak 26 BEN ISRAEL. [Act. 2. For all our dead — you who stand over me In solemn grief bowed to the earth. O, let it be your blessing, and revoke this curse. Dav. ( Turning and pointing Rachel to the Bishops and Rabbis. Rachel quickly rises and turns imploringly to them.) See, child, I have gathered these to judge For us. Speak, holy men. There stands the last Of all our royal house. If she now weds The Christian knight then David's name will die For ever out of Israel. Speak ye, now, Judges of our people; and speak ye, The judges of the Gentiles; have not I Pronounced your fiat when I do declare The Jewess and the Christian must not mate ? Rabbis AND Bishops. You have! (Rachel staggers hut is caught hy Walter.) Sir W. Old man, you've struck her to the heart. Dav. Peace, boy! Think you mine is not stricken too ? Rach. (reviving) You've heard the judgment Walter! They have said We are divorced. I go — I go. Dav. Rachel, Rachel, where goest thou? Rach. (Turning upon him passionately.) Out — out! old man, bearing the curse your lips And theirs pronounced. He was as father, mother, race and faith to me; And ye have taken him from me. I do accept the judgment Thus most awfully pronounced upon my head. Follow me not! Hinder me not! The doom'd are sacred as the bless'd! I go — I go, bearing through the earth my curse. I go!— I go! Dav. Rachel! Rachel! (Picture.) END OP ACT 11. Act 3.] BEN ISEAEL. 27 ACT III. Scene 1. — The Jewish Quarter in London. A view of the >^treet. Exterior of Ben IsraeVs house. Enter Levi and Kebecca, his wife. Lev. By our sacred tribe, I would that Israel Had left his bones in antique Babylon, Ere thus our sons and daughters should Be damned by Gentile mixing. Reb. But Rachel loves the Christian. Lev. And I do hate the Christian. Reb. Levi, thou art wrong. Lev. What, wrong to pay my debts ? Reb. The child would die without the Christian's love. Lev. Bah! Why should she die? Hath she not found Her people ? Reb. And lost her love ! Lev. 'T is like ye all. Name love to a woman, And she will sell her soul to please Her fancy. Beguile a woman's ear with love, And she w^ill sell her people and betray Her people's God. Reb. But chance, yea fate almost, good Levi, made Our Rachel Christian. Her Jewish mother dying — Her Christian foster-mother in her love, Baptized the child. Lev. Thou stick' st a dagger in my heart! Would she had laid our Rachel in her grave Ere baptized her unto the Nazarine. Enter Annetti as he is speaking. Ann. Thou art a brute for saying so. Lev. Bah ! Thou art a hussy and knowest not The weight of this grave matter. But thy mother did With lavish kindness rear the child; So thou may'st say e'en as it pleaseth thee. Enter Gabriel, with ribbons in his coat as for a weddim] dat/. Gab. Hurrah! {business) Lev. What! hath the fool the Christian's legion in him? 28 BEN ISKAEL. [Act 3. Gab. No, Levi. Two horns before churching. Two horns only — two horns of good old English twenty-one, or I'm a Jew. Lev. Get thee to the Christian's quarter, knave. Thou hast no business here. Gab. Choke down thy choler for I bring thee news. Eachel is coming home to-day. Lev. There's money for thy news. Gab. (Testing It on the pavement) By a Christian's conscience, it hath kingly tone. Jew, thou art a Christian — a golden Christian — a right well begotten Christian. Lev. Let me pass. {Leaves in disgust and goes into Ben Israel's house.) Gab. Gold, Annetti, gold. Ann. The wedding ring? Let me see it. Gab. No a Charlie; but a golden one. Ann. That for your Charlie ! I thought it was the ring. Gab. But think of golden gifts from a Jew. My master shall marry the Jewess. Reb. Yea, Rachel shall marry the Christian. Father Abraham forgive me for saying so. But my master David cannot live with- out his grandchild. Ann. Nor Rachel without her mate. Reb. Here come our maidens forth with songs to greet her. Hebrew Men and Maidens come out of Ben Israelis house, singing. SONG. Maidens, tune our golden harps And sing as in days of yore ; Young men, make merry in a stranger land, And mourn for our homes no more. Chorus : All lands be our home, make merry ! We'll roam no more from this welcome shore ! All lands be our home — make merry ! Maidens, strike a joyful strain. And bring in our jubilee ; Young men, make merry in a native laud, For this shall our birthplace be. Chorus : All lands be our home — etc i 11 ■"H^i i) "n :^i '~5i'^i\ "^11 11 i!! ' 4Mii_ ^ 1 1 II I I I I I mw-r, ^ "»-JL- l\ ' ' I "41^11 '1,1 Jill T^i_l| ^%ii «L]i j\%^t —^iiiSLi " ''^ S '^li 1 i ill w 'im. \ A 5^1 iiil Ill s I W^ 'T^^- IMM __.lllll ^\ I I *. .1) iJICI" .11 MM Tl-% MM .^ MM ** - M M I S _ M I II ^ Mill i«rM II " 1 1^— z:r MM ,Mltl %MI ^W 11 - 'I li :,, 1 ! o ,1 I 3 Ti^i^.ib % ■%M1 t.— 1^ ^,r #y "^ III g .^, TT^%_g -%||«U ;ii "^ I,, 1 1 i 1.1M III CO I! =, «i p. Miir VMM MM > I :.~il^ ^ -*il-^ %\1 t\ I 111 i'MI . ^ ill ^^. Ml M^ li jiir II li w •I I III lill Ml III %l li! - I a iM "^i%i\ lllli« m MM iL\ to § "^llm ^ MM II (•ft ft«-3 q '-1 .11 (■«_\ H^ 1^ siiaoHO i««a ■~'^i^% I I 1 M II II ^^^ i^-^v ^rf I! %1\) ( it 3 .1 ■ I I ^f Tail.\\3^|jl^i\ a; j^ s -«C II! #■•1 1. 1 ■■ii5i_'' INI . nil " III! 1 . " ' a T^ »i-a j?^_ !;%m^ '^"i^.m; f' ^1-^ ^ TT% Wii\ %\ Mill J "i i^J^. a -J ^%\\^ M£- III MM JPL-li! WJg^ li.J5L ill 11 IIMI MM! RW\ Hi %..l^ III ■ Ml T Ml II EI\ l^\ ll I l| i I •L. 1, !.i^i\ fr "1»i!lL> nl II 8 wiiiii se'lMllU. ^ Mill Act 3.] BEN ISRAEL. 29 Enter Rachel and David, followed by Sir Walter, Judah, Charles, Hawkley, and the Templar Men. Last Old Meg enters. Day. Be this thy native land, O Israel ! Chas. Gad's death ! well said, David. Hebrews. A jubilee! a jubilee! Bach. Yes, thanks to him ( Walter) and to the king. Dav. Men of my tribe ! One year ago to-day You did confirm Ben Israel's judgment That Bachel and the Christian must not mate. Out from our presence went the maid, bearing The curse which we pronounced. Bach. But he did turn it into joy. {indicating Walter.) O, men of Judah! There stands one who since That night hath stormed the British Parliament "With glorious eloquence upon the cause Of our long sufiering people. Ah ! was not this a grand revenge ? For he went out with me bearing the curse Of hates, which to our race hath brought ages of woe. Sir W. Bevenge? And for your priceless love Which hath ennobled me ? But you are right. The curse did fall on me as well. 'Twas then I felt the burden of your people's wrongs. 'T was then I swore in my despair That never should my voice be hushed. Until the Jew with Christian ranked as equal. Dav. Young man, ingratitude is not my people's sin. We love not, for we have not been loved, — Trust not, because we have not been trusted! But thou shaltfind the Jew is just: That he will pay his debt where love is due With more exactness than his debts of hate. Be this my bond of love and witness of my word: {Taking RacheVs hand and giving it to Sir Walter.) Take her ! Ben Israel revokes the curse! Let all pronounce on them the blessings of our fathers ! Chas. Ben Israel, knowing thee I wonder not. Thy race hath been the sampler of a world. Dav. Didst know the Jew, my king, as he shall yet Be known, thou shouldst confess my pattern is but poor. My people's sampler, sire, is their Fidelity ! 30 BEN ISEAEL. [Act 3. Sir W. Sliame on us Cliristians— shame ! for we have made That grand fidelity thy people's curse. Day. Sir Walter, bid thy uncle Courtney meet Me and my grandchild here to-night. My gold Shall free thy kinsman's lands of debt, Kachel Shall give the cancelled deed as dower to her Who did release thee from thy family covenant To wed thy Hebrew love. Rach. Thus love redeems us from the curse of hates. Meg. {as they are going off) Not if my hate wins! {Close in.) Scene 2. — Exterior of the King's Arms Inn. Gabriel and Annettl come out of the Inn. Gab. Now if logic be logic, and blessing be blessing, and mar- riage goeth not in crooked paths, to trip true love up, then cometh we out of Dad Bramble's house with the blessing of our posterity on our heads. Ann. Fie! Gabriel. Never mind about the posterity. Gab. Ah! But I do mind the posterity Annetti. What would you have me a half -begotten father — an unnatural ancestor that ioveth not his offspring ? Ann. Keep thy mouth silent, blockhead, there is no offspring. Gab. Verily there will be or I understand not the rule of marriage. Ann. Do you understand that, saucebox ? {stops his month) Gab. Thou hast stopped the mouth of the lambs and I will stop the mouth of their dam. {kisses he?') Ann. Well, now, I rather like that. Gab. So did I. Old Meg rushes across their path, l. 1 e. Meg. Alarm! alarm! The Jews have done a murder! {exitB.. 1 e.) Gab. 'T is the she-fiend ! Murder! murder. Ann. Hold your tongue, fool, 't was only Old Meg. Gab. What! have I been scared by that Papist hag ? Well here comes her brood, who will not frighten me. Papists rush in. Pap. The Jews have done a murder. Murder and the Jews! Gab. {pitching into them) Murder and the Papists! Hurrah for the Jews! Down with the Papists! {He drives them off l. 1 E., and is followed off by Annetti. Act :?.] BEN ISEAEL. 31 Meg returns with Hawk ley. Hawk. It was not done too soon. Meg. Soon enough — soon enough, my son, to trap the Jew. Hawk. 'T is his crafty nephew that I fear. He knows ho\v I hate his tribe, and has urged old Ben Israel to foreclose the mortgage on my castle and estates to make a dower of them for Kachel . Meg. Aha! but he knew not Old Meg. We've trapped them, and Sir Walter Templar will be missing. But we'll do more yet — more yet. A storm must be raised in England against the Jew^s or they will rule the kingdom by their gold. So said the Holy Fathers. Hawk. Yes; the Jesuits hate the Jews for they want not the res- toration of the Catholic power in England. That plotting uncle of the Jewess — he who serves the arch-heretic, William of Orange, aims to break off Charles' alliance with Louis. Meg. We shall see ! we shall see ! Old Meg can plot as well as the best of them. Have thy witnesses prepared to testify that Sir Walter Templar was murdered by a band of Jews, who did out- number them quite two to one. Old Meg will do her part. We'll catch them in the trap. Curse them all — heretics and Jews. Come, my son, to work. [Ejceunt R. 1 e.) Scene 3. — The Quarter of the Jews again. Night. Ben Israel's House illuminated. Chorus of Men and Maidens come forth from the house j singing. SONG. PART SECOND. Virgins, light your well trimmed lamps — Be brides as in days of yore; Young men, go wooing in a stranger land. And sigh for your loves no more. Chorus : All lands be our home — make merry ! We'll roam no more from this welcome shore — All lands be our home — make merry ! Virgins, forth to meet the groom — Return with our jubilee ! Young men, be wedding in a native laud, For this shall our birthplace be. Chorus : All lands be our home — etc. {Exeunt Chorus down the Jew Quarter.) S2 BEN ISKAEL. [Act. 3. Enter Hawkley and Meg, r. 1 e. Hawk. There must not be half work to-night. Meg. There shall not be, my son. Hawk. Destroy the Jewish Quarter and we save My castle, Meg. Burn down this house to night, And, in the morn, the old Jew's mortgages. Will be but tinder for the match to fire The den of every Jew in London. Meg. There's many a spendthrift lord will thank us for the work. Hawk. Before a month the frightened tribe will fly From England's shores again. But canst depend on Gabriel ? Meg. Ay. I have cozened his dull wits. He thinks His master murdered by the Jews, and like A maniac cries through the streets, the Jews! Revenge ! The Devil and the Jews ! I must away to lend him aid. [Exeunt r. 2 e.) Enter David with Levi, d. c, from the Jewish Quarter. Lev. Trust not the Christian's love, my master. 'Tis A snare. The curses of our wrongs alight on them. Dav. Nay, Levi, curse them not. Lev. Have they not been a blight upon thy life ? Dav. It is the heritage of all our race to suffer wrongs. Lev. Hark! What cries were those? {cries heard) In, in my master, for some bloody work Is near our quarter. Dav. Nay, nay, good Levi. 'Tis the young men's shouts, Who with their lord have come to celebrate His marriage with my child. Lev. I trust not the Christian's love. Dav. Ha! our people do illuminate. Lev. Those cries again! Dav. Were shouts of joy, good Levi. Lev. I'd rather feast upon the Christian's hate Than sup his love. * Dav. In Levi now, and bid my household forth To welcome those who come in love to us. Lev. Then hath their love strange tongues. The curse of all our tribe alight on them, {enter house) Act 3.] BEN ISRAEL. • :« Dav. (lisfemng to the cries) Methinks as they come near those shouts do seem More like anathemas which have so oft Rung in my ears in other lands. Levi ! Lev. {from within) In, in my master! Dav. "When priests have raised the cry against the JeW; The multitude have caught it up in rage — Then hunting us like hounds in every street, Have driven us as sheej) to slaughter, And our homes have sacked, {multitude now heard ratjimj nearhy) Levi! Ho, Levi! (he comes from house) See what this tumult means, {exit Levi) A Cry {without) Murder! Murder! Dav. The God of Jacob be our refuge then. Enter Judah. Dav. Judah, what means it? JuD. As yet I cannot fully comprehend, Sir Walter's tenantry come raging through The streets crying. Revenge upon the Jews! We'll drive the Jews from England. Dav. Now, by the God of Jacob, 't is most fit They thus repay my kind intents. "What have I done of wrong ? I had redeem'd Their lands from him who hath supplanted them. Enter Charles. Chas. Fly, Dawl fly! I'll aid you to escape. My guards disperse the mob who were By thousands gathering round your house. Dav. Fly? "Wherefore should I fly ? The guilty fly, And not the innocent, when they have nerve To meet the consequence of others deeds, And ask as I do now — "What have I done ? What is the wrong whereof I am accused ? Enter Hawkley followed by Meg. Hawk. The murder of Sir Walter Templar ! Rack, {coming forth from house) Murdered! Walter murdered ? No, no! It cannot be! It is not ! Meg. It is, thou Jemsh witch! Jdd. Hawkley this is foul play. Meg. Ha! Thine, wizzard, and thy Jews. 34 BE:^T ISEAEL. Act .3] Each. The storm hath burst and on thy aged head The thunderbolt alights! Would it had stricken mine alone, not thine! Day. Alas, the woe! Ever the woe! Hawk. Your Majesty, I cannot quell the mob. The Templar men demand Ben Israel To answer for the murder of their lord. RcH. Said'st murdered by the Jews? My grandsire's hand bathed in the blood Of him I loved ? Look at that grand old man In grief for us, oblivious of himself: Sits guilt enthroned there ? Or is it not The picture of a man who fain would bear The burden of the woes of those he loved ? Chas. It is. David you answer not. Dav. What shall I answer ? I have been as dumb, For 1 did find no matter for my speech, Except, Charles Stuart, matter not mine own, And shadows of dark deeds of others born. I will not further speak till I have heard The circumstances of the charge. Chas. David, 'tis said, you set men of your tribe To murder Templar. That your fair pretence, To w^ed him to this maid, was but to break Her to your will. Widow'd ere wed 't would be In vain for her to hold against your fixed Intent, that she should marry with a Jew. Dav. Now grows the damned lie into rank form And dangerous circumstance. Gro on! I list. I see there's more to come against the Jew. Chas. Your plot was overheard. Dav. Oh! damned lie again. Go on! Chas. You went abroad to-day. Dav. Ay to my kinsman, Levi's, where I should Have met Sir W^ alter with the monies. But he came not. Chas. He came but went not out. To hide the crime They say you set on fire old Levi's house, Which is in ashes now. Dav. My kinsman's house ! Who saw this deed ? Meg. I, Jew. Old Levi and thyself did it. Rach. O Walter, Walter! Thus the fowler hath Ensnared us all. Act 3.] BEN ISRAEL. 35 Day. Here stand I then, as stands the stricken oak, By hghtning singed from crown to root, Whose railings 'gainst the stroke of fate. Would shame its sorrow, which should have no speech. Its blasted majesty, which doth outlive Its life, shall better speak for it than words. And justice shall be done it, e'en in death! Come Kachel ! {He is going off to give himself up) Chas. David, what would ye ? Dav. I go to meet my chains ! Rach. Stay grandfather. This is conspiracy. (Ife gently resists her, but she holds him back) Nay / will out and meet the Templar men alone. They dare not touch her w^hom their master loved. I will proclaim the truth to them. Walter is not murdered ! Omnes. Not murdered! Rach. I have the proof here in myself! I have received no learning of his death ! Perchance he is in bonds, while we are bowed Beneath this stroke, — ay, victims all of deep Black hearted men. But Walter is not dead ! Hawk. Not dead! RcH. {to Hawkley) Beware! I see the shadows traced by thy base hand. But deeds of darkness w^rought Shall on the housetop be proclaimed. {Exit Bachel with Annetti.) Dav. I'll follow her. What matters it for me ? If they do thirst for Hebrew blood. They shall have mine! {Exit David.) (Hawkley and Meg steal off) Chas. Judah, you should have followed him. JuD. It w^ould ofiend his princely mood. He is most sensative. When braving wrath To shield his race I've seen him awe a multitude. Chas If 't is a plot against the Jews, my brother James Is head and front of it. {he looks off) 'S death ! They drive thy people like a flock of sheep. Mob. {icithout.) Death to the Jews! JuD. {drawing his sword) Then be it hate for hate and blood for blood! {Exit Judah, followed by the King.) 36 BEN ISRAEL. [Act 3. (^Enter Levi wounded.) Lev. The Christians steel hath stricken home. My dying curse alight on them! Where is my master David V The Gentile hath betrayed him. My dying curse — {dies,) Enter Hebrews, men, women and children in flight. Bex Iseael staggers after them with blood on his brow.) Day. {speaking to the mob without as he enters) Smite David yet again, but spare his people ! {turning^ to the Kebreirit who are gathered around Levi) I am not what I once had been Li thy defence O, Jacob! Eeb. Levi is slain! Dav. Levi slain ? Then hath the evil day returned. / Reb. Woe to our people ! Dav. {lamenting orer Levi) Levi! Levi! {Enter Charles.) Chas. David art wounded deep ? Dav. {awakened from his lament and passionateJy) Ay in the stab that reached old Levi's heart. Wounds ? What have I wounds ? I felt them not. Ben Israel's wound is in his people's wrongs. {touchi7ig his brow) This had been naught though cloven to the chin Had they been spared. Chas. Give but some proof of innocence and I Will side with thee Ben Israel. Dav. What Jewish innocence ? To Christian judgment 'twould be damning guilt! What would it weigh though I did heap Volumes of protests 'gainst this charge ? Am I not forejudged and foredoom'd? Chas. By Heaven no! You do wrong us there! Dav. By Heaven yes! And I do wrong ye not. What can I bring except the murdered man Alive to prove I killed him not ? That were Not possible if he be dead. If not then is this charge Conspiracy against the Jew, such as Our people oft have borne, that Christian nobles, — Ay and Christian kings, might spoil our substance And ourselves drive out to other lands, To give them quitance of our bonds. Act 3.] BEN ISRAEL. 37 Chas. I say by Heaven you wrong us, Jew! Day. And I by Heaven I wrong ye not, O king! {Enter Rachel passionately beating back tJie Templar men who are headed by GabribIj and with Meg urging them on.) Each, Back! Back! Touch not his hallowed head. Lay not a linger on that sacred man Whose majest}^ of soul rebukes this violence! Meg. Hang the Jew. Gab. He murdered my master ! Rach. Back ! Back, I say ! Appease your wrath on me! Take her who loved Your master more than all your loves for him Though heaped in one! Vent 3^our fierce rage On her who had this day been bride of him You served, but ye shall not e'en touch That guiltless man: In pieces tear me first! Enter Hawkley. Hawk. Quick, your Majesty. The Jewish Quarter is on fire. There is but bare escape. Enter Judah. JuD. There's none, villian! From end to end the fire meets. Meg conies out of Ben IsraeVs house exulting. Fire seen pouring through windows. Meg. Aha! Behold, Ben Israel's house. 'Twill be their funeral pile. In with the Jewess witch. Dav. {advancing with Rachel — manner sublime.) Come what will, why let it come! Our people's trust is in the God of Israel. TABLEAUX. — The Jewish Quarter on fire. Hebrew peojile kneeling around their Prince. END OF ACT III. 38 BEN ISEAEL. [Act 4. ACT IV. Scene 1. — Discovered. A Court: Lord Chief Justice 'presiding^ snjyported. by two assistant Judges. Near them Charles II i7i a chair of state for the occasion. Present: Jews and Yeomanry of Sir Walter Templar. Grand Trial of the Jewish Prince, David Ben Israel. Ch. J. Let the prisoner, David Ben Israel, be brought into Court. Enter David, in the costume of a prince of his people. Chas. See, my lord, his tottering steps. This is the third day's ordeal. Let him be seated where he stands. (David seats himself.) Day. Ben Israel thanks ye for this grace. Ch. J. David Ben Israel, have you no witness ? Dav. I have, my Lord: My people's history, "Which in the volumed ag&> of the past Speaks like the awful voice of Sinai Of what the Jew hath been, what he hath borne. {rising) O, Judge, — When Europe was unto the world like some Huge rock, just blasted from its native bed, The Jews, the superstructure of society Beared for their savage masters, and did mould This civilization which ye have to-day. Our law, our geoius and our wisdom, ke23t And garnered through the ages down, we gave As oft our blood, the precious cement Of this fabric raised. Your cities and your marts of trade. Ay, the commerce of a world, were first the work Of the despised Jew. Yet when we dreamt To find our homes in lands we made to thrive, Our everlasting exodus has come. And massacre on massacre been crown' d — Till men have taken lives most dear to them In their despair, — mothers with offspring lept Into the sea, or down some horrid precipice. To 'scape the human monsters who pursued, , Less merciful than death. And thus have perished millions of my race : And all because the Jew is but the Jew ! Oft have I heard, e'en in my time, the cry Which rang the other day: "Bring out t the Jew!" Act 4.] BEN ISRAEL. Yet hath that self-same Jew been innocoiit as I. My people's case is mine; my circumstantial crime As theirs; so I have called them up before This judgment seat, my witnesses, and their Examples make my advocates. Now judge ye all, for I am but the Jew, Guilty or innocent, not in mine act, But in your finding. (David rc--